The Great Race: The Twelve Animals · chapter 2 of 5
A Ride on the Ox
坐在牛头上
Race day dawns. Rat whispers a wake-up call, rides across the river on Ox's head and sings very badly all the way. But back home, someone is still asleep.
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Rat 猫……起床了……
Māo… qǐchuáng le…
Cat… time to get up…
- Cat 再睡五分钟……
Zài shuì wǔ fēnzhōng…
Five more minutes…
- Rat 我叫了，是她不起来。这不是我的错！
Wǒ jiào le, shì tā bù qǐlái. Zhè bú shì wǒ de cuò!
I called her. She's the one who didn't get up. That's not my fault!
- Narrator 老鼠一个人跑到河边。牛已经在那儿等他了。
Lǎoshǔ yí gè rén pǎo dào hébiān. Niú yǐjīng zài nàr děng tā le.
Rat ran down to the river alone. Ox was already there, waiting for him.
- Ox 老鼠，早！猫呢？
Lǎoshǔ, zǎo! Māo ne?
Morning, Rat! Where's Cat?
- Rat 她还在睡觉。我叫了，真的！她不起来。
Tā hái zài shuìjiào. Wǒ jiào le, zhēnde! Tā bù qǐlái.
She's still asleep. I did call her, honest! She just wouldn't get up.
- Ox 那只猫，太爱睡觉了。
Nà zhī māo, tài ài shuìjiào le.
That cat loves her sleep far too much.
- The Jade Emperor 太阳出来了！大家，过河吧！
Tàiyáng chūlái le! Dàjiā, guò hé ba!
The sun is up! Everyone, cross the river!
- Narrator 很多动物都下了河。牛也下水了，老鼠坐在他的头上。
Hěn duō dòngwù dōu xià le hé. Niú yě xià shuǐ le, Lǎoshǔ zuò zài tā de tóu shang.
Animals poured into the river. Ox stepped into the water too, with Rat sitting on his head.
- Tiger 牛，你太慢了！我先走了！第一是我的！
Niú, nǐ tài màn le! Wǒ xiān zǒu le! Dì yī shì wǒ de!
You're too slow, Ox! I'm going on ahead! First place is mine!
- Ox 慢慢来，慢慢来。
Mànmàn lái, mànmàn lái.
Slowly does it, slowly does it.
- Rat 牛啊牛，大又大，过大河，他不怕！
Niú a Niú, dà yòu dà, guò dà hé, tā bú pà!
Ox, oh Ox, so big, so big, across the river, he's not scared!
- Ox 老鼠，你唱得真不好听……可是，我喜欢！
Lǎoshǔ, nǐ chàng de zhēn bù hǎotīng… kěshì, wǒ xǐhuan!
Rat, your singing is truly awful… but I like it!
- Tiger 啊！水太大了！它要带我去哪儿？
A! Shuǐ tài dà le! Tā yào dài wǒ qù nǎr?
Ah! The water's too strong! Where's it taking me?
- Rat 你看！水带着老虎走了！
Nǐ kàn! Shuǐ dàizhe Lǎohǔ zǒu le!
Look! The river's carrying Tiger away!
- Ox 你看，快，不一定好。
Nǐ kàn, kuài, bù yídìng hǎo.
You see? Fast isn't always best.
- Narrator 牛游了很久很久。河那边，玉帝在等。
Niú yóu le hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ. Hé nàbiān, Yùdì zài děng.
Ox swam for a long, long time. On the far bank, the Jade Emperor was waiting.
- The Jade Emperor 来了，来了！第一个是……一头大牛！我写一下……
Lái le, lái le! Dì yī gè shì… yì tóu dà niú! Wǒ xiě yíxià…
Here they come, here they come! And the first is… a big ox! Let me write that down…
- Rat 现在！跳！
Xiànzài! Tiào!
Now! Jump!
- Rat 对不起，牛！我先走了！
Duìbuqǐ, Niú! Wǒ xiān zǒu le!
Sorry, Ox! I'm going on ahead!
- Narrator 老鼠从牛的头上一跳，跳到了玉帝的前边。
Lǎoshǔ cóng Niú de tóu shang yí tiào, tiào dào le Yùdì de qiánbian.
Rat sprang off Ox's head and landed right in front of the Jade Emperor.
- The Jade Emperor 一只小老鼠？可是……你没有游泳啊！
Yì zhī xiǎo lǎoshǔ? Kěshì… nǐ méiyǒu yóuyǒng a!
A little rat? But… you didn't swim!
- Rat 玉帝，您说：第一个到的，是第一年。您没说要游泳啊！
Yùdì, nín shuō: dì yī gè dào de, shì dì yī nián. Nín méi shuō yào yóuyǒng a!
Your Majesty, you said the first to arrive gets the first year. You never said we had to swim!
- The Jade Emperor 对……我没说。好，我再写一下。老鼠第一！牛第二！
Duì… wǒ méi shuō. Hǎo, wǒ zài xiě yíxià. Lǎoshǔ dì yī! Niú dì èr!
That's… true, I didn't. Very well, let me write it again. Rat, first! Ox, second!
- Ox 老鼠！所以你才要坐在我的头上！
Lǎoshǔ! Suǒyǐ nǐ cái yào zuò zài wǒ de tóu shang!
Rat! So that's why you wanted to sit on my head!
- Rat 对不起，牛！小老鼠，也有小办法！
Duìbuqǐ, Niú! Xiǎo lǎoshǔ, yě yǒu xiǎo bànfǎ!
Sorry, Ox! Little rats have little tricks!
- Ox 你这个小东西……好吧，第二也很好。
Nǐ zhège xiǎo dōngxi… hǎo ba, dì èr yě hěn hǎo.
You little rascal… Oh well. Second is good too.
- Narrator 这时候，在河这边，太阳已经很高了。
Zhè shíhou, zài hé zhèbiān, tàiyáng yǐjīng hěn gāo le.
Meanwhile, back on this side of the river, the sun was already high in the sky.
- Cat 睡得真好……老鼠？老鼠呢？
Shuì de zhēn hǎo… Lǎoshǔ? Lǎoshǔ ne?
What a lovely sleep… Rat? Where's Rat?
- Cat 太阳这么高了？比赛！老鼠！你为什么不叫我？
Tàiyáng zhème gāo le? Bǐsài! Lǎoshǔ! Nǐ wèishénme bú jiào wǒ?
The sun's that high already? The race! Rat! Why didn't you wake me?
What changed in the story?
- Why doesn't Cat get up on race morning?
“猫……起床了……”……“再睡五分钟……”
- What happens to Tiger in the river?
“啊！水太大了！它要带我去哪儿？”
- How does Rat reach the Jade Emperor first?
“老鼠从牛的头上一跳，跳到了玉帝的前边。”
- Why does the Jade Emperor let Rat be first?
“您说：第一个到的，是第一年。您没说要游泳啊！”……“对……我没说。”
- How does Ox take coming second?
“你这个小东西……好吧，第二也很好。”